Friday, July 13, 2007

First Bee Inspection

I've carried out my first solo bee inspection. It went really well and my confidence is building by leaps and bounds.

I've learned that:

1. The way I've set up the hives, I can't easily smoke hive 1 at the entrance

2. I don't have a whole lot of room for manoeuvre, the space is rather cramped

3. Smoking bees really is magical - they change from inquisitive and noisy to quiet and calm at a puff of smoke, but...

4. The hardest thing about beekeeping is the fine art of keeping your smoker alight

5. That's not quite true - the hardest thing about beekeeping is finding the bloody queen. If anyone can breed a strain of bees where the queen is fluorescent pink and flashes like an LED, I think they'd be onto a winner

LOVE the idea of a flourescent queen ... perhaps you should get someone to help you mark her, because it definitely makes them easier to spot (what do I know, I'm behind you on this, but have been out a few times with a mentor this summer). I am SO jealous of you, and really glad it's going well

It isn't just the queens. At a talk recently, a beekeeper brought along a supposedly vacant frame of comb, which sat quietly on display until I noticed a movement and had to tell her "Excuse me, you have a bee on your ear".